Legislation & Regulation
New Mining Regulations in Maine
February 2014 by Associated Press
Renewed interest in mining of gold, silver, copper and other metals in Aroostook County’s Bald Mountain triggered 2012 legislation requiring the overhaul of the state’s two-decade-old mining regulations.
The Democratic-controlled state Legislature, however, will have the final say on the new rules, which could be the subject of a heated battle.
The Department of Environmental Protection, which drafted the regulations, has said the rules are based on science, meet the requirements of law and protect the environment. But some environmentalists are angry over what they say are insufficient protections.
The final BEP rules opened up some conservation land to underground mining, allowed mining companies to potentially treat contaminated water in perpetuity, and allowed mining companies to start construction without providing full financial assurances—although those financial obligations must be fully met before mining can commence.
Nick Bennett from the Natural Resources Council of Maine said the BEP made some last-minute changes and ignored hundreds of public comments calling for stronger rules.
But any mining operations are likely years away. J.D. Irving Ltd., owner of Bald Mountain, says it still doesn’t know if mining is feasible and that any mining operation is at least five years away.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
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• Administration locks up another popular gold mining area
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Multiple Use Lands, Symbiotic Relations and Conflict Resolution
The automatic discrimination and exclusion of man from nature, like his access and use of the land, presupposes man as a destructive force for change, absent a relative hard look at the natural forces of change. Setting aside lands for non-use does not encourage wise use symbiotic tenets, which man has traditionally formed in his coexistence with nature.
Trip to “The Swamp” on Behalf of Small Miners
Besides the EPA issue, our major priority is to work on the proposed amendment to the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act (S 145), a bill proposed in the Senate by US Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada).
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Legislative and Regulatory Update
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We’re Still Thinking About It
We have learned over the years, of course, that “previous development,” “roadless,” and “local support,” are in the mind of the beholder.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
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